If I may ask a few question concerning what are likely some misconceptions of mine:

The Avataṃsaka Period: during this period, it is said that the Buddha taught a bewildering and confusing dharma that was not understood by the masses, and only by a select few bodhisattvāḥ.

Regardless of if this Avataṃsaka period occurred or not, why is the Buddha believed to have began with incomprehensible teachings? Since this information essentially comes from the internet, free flowing and uncited, what is the appropriate contextualization for the belief that there was an Avataṃsaka Period of mostly incomprehensible dharma with very little transmission occurring?